Vehicles using electric power for all or a portion of their motive power may provide a number of advantages as compared to more traditional gas-powered vehicles using internal combustion engines. For example, vehicles using electric power may produce fewer undesirable emission products and may exhibit greater fuel efficiency as compared to vehicles using internal combustion engines (and, in some cases, such vehicles may eliminate the use of gasoline entirely, such as in certain types of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles). As technology continues to evolve, there is a need to provide improved power sources, such as battery systems or modules, for such vehicles. For example, it is desirable to increase the distance that such vehicles may travel without the need to recharge the batteries. It is also desirable to improve the performance of such batteries and to reduce the cost associated with the battery systems.
The use of newer battery chemistries and the desire to enhance performance of electric vehicles have given rise to new design and engineering challenges. For example, due to the desire to closely monitor and/or regulate the operating temperature of, for example, lithium-ion cells, in order to improve operating cell efficiency, there is a continuing desire to improve the efficiency of heat transfer through the cell. Unfortunately, many current systems continue to experience inefficiencies as heat is transferred through the cells. For instance, many current cells rely on forced convection for regulation of cell temperature due in part to the irregular shaped surfaces of the formed components, which render heat conduction from the base of the cell inefficient. These same irregular shaped surfaces, such as between the base of the cell and the case of the cell, have limited the ability to truly hermetically seal the cell. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved system for use, for example, in vehicles using electric power, that addresses one or more of these challenges.